We can not choose the decade that we grow up in. We can not choose what fashions we will have to look back on. This is a difficult fact of life that anyone who grew up in the 70's and 80's must deal with. "Hands down, it was the most hideous fashion decade of the last millennium, with the possible exception of being a man in the Court of Versailles or during the Victorian bathing era."
The 70's were the days of hip-hugger pants and super wide bell bottoms, granny dresses, Quiana shirts for guys in those horrible prints with long pointy collars, I actually kind of like the sparkly disco dresses but we weren't wearing those to high school! The guys had to have a mustache and girls, well, it was Farrah Fawcett 'wings' or nothing!
There is one fashion statement however that I loved then and love the idea of now, Levi corduroy jeans! In particular baby blue cords! As I recall Levi cords came in lots of lovely colors, greens, browns,pink,and baby blue. They were pinwale cord and softer every time you washed them. I seem to recall they were pretty expensive but I know I did own at least that one pair. Pretty sure it was 1975 or 76.
"Those of you Levis jeans and cord wearers, lets pause reverentially to think about the leather tag stitched on the back right hand side of the waist, displaying your inseam and hip size like a butcher’s cut of meat. Given the societal paranoia women exhibit over revealing their exact ages and dress sizes, this was a bold move. We never thought about the fact that the pants were fitted for boys, that Levis had yet to discover a woman’s hips or come up with their brilliant concept of personalizing jeans to a woman’s body." At a recent event she says, "We all recalled the pre-back pack years when high school halls were jammed with girls in shag hair cuts clutching books to their chests, all sporting the multi-colors of Levis from the waist down."
I can't say that I remember my friends being as obsessed with which jeans they had or the color. I think this is mostly because I was a teenager and obsessed with what I was thinking at all times! And what I was thinking about was how great I looked in my baby blue cords with the cool striped sweater or especially the matching mini check gingham shirt. It just matched my eyes and with my newly sun bleached hair I was sure to catch a boyfriend! I was into some older boy at the time who also wore baby blue cords and had blue eyes to match. Not sure he knew who I was or that we ever spoke but I loved his cords and mine!
I wish I knew what happened to those cords. I happened upon some colored cords a few years back, not blue but green, but when I wore them there was no magic. Maybe because they weren't Levi's or more likely I wasn't 15.
As my fellow class of 78er writes, "On a recent weekend with some high school pals, we opened our yearbook from 1978, half-wincing, half awestruck at the absolutely awful styles that reigned. It was so much worse than we remembered. The haircuts, those head gear braces straps that wrapped around the skull (really? was that emotional scarring necessary?) the eye glasses (think Charles Nelson Reilly), the over-abundance of facial hair, the unibrows on Miracle Grow. Don’t get me started. Our black and white doe-eyed looks of innocence in the face of so many fashion crimes were cringe worthy. How could we have been so oblivious?
There I was, standing with the rest of the year book staff, my loud polyester print shirt shining, my bangs feathered and curled back like the Flying Nun about to lift off. And yes, there they were, my baby blue cords, slight flare at the leg, riding down on my hips, hanging over my wooden platform shoes. Total proof to myself and my children, that I had once been the living end, the absolute height of fashion."
All I can say is I wish I could still feel as fabulous as I thought I looked in those baby blue cords.
No comments:
Post a Comment